Cemetery with crosses - legends lost but remembered

From The Spaghetti Western Database
Revision as of 02:18, 7 January 2022 by Tom B. (talk | contribs)
Jump to: navigation, search

This page is our personal hall of faml'e. A reminder to us all that even though considered a B-genre, Spaghetti Westerns were full of great characters, played by great people. Many have passed away, and while we are young growing up re-watching all these classics, many more will probably leave us. May they be remembered. What follows, is a work-in-progress, a growing list of legends who have passed away...

Sorted by last name: A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z

Cemetery.jpg

FRESH GRAVES

  • LAURENTI, Mariano - 4/15/1929, Rome, Lazio, Italy - 1/6/2022, Gubbio, Umbria, Italy

Italian director, writer Mariano Laurenti died in Gubbio, Umbria, Italy on January 6, 2022. He was 92. Born in Rome on April 15, 1929. He started as a script supervisor and later became an assistant director for, among others, Mauro Bolognini and Stefano Vanzina. He directed 50 films between 1966 and 1999, being mainly active in the "sexy comedies” genre of Italian films. Laurenti was the assistant director on 1962’s “Terrible Sheriff”, a writer as Francesco Martino on 1968’s “A Sky Full of Stars for a Roof” and directed Franco Franchi in 1975’s “The Grandson of Zorro”.


  • LANFRANCHI, Mario - 6/30/1927, Parma, Emilia-Romagna, Italy - 1/3/2020 Valparma di Langhirano, Parma, Emilia-Romagna, Italy

Italian producer, director, screenwriter and actor Mario Lanfranchi died in Valparma di Langhirano, Parma, Emilia-Romagna, Italy on January 3, 2022. He was 94. Born in Parma on June 30, 1927, after graduating from the Accademia dei Filodrammatici in Milan, in 1952 Lanfranchi was called by Sergio Pugliese, director of television programs, to collaborate with the nascent Rai. He was the first to bring opera to the small screen, in 1956, with Giacomo Puccini's "Madama Butterfly", which brought attention to the general public of Anna Moffo, then an unknown young American soprano, who became his wife the following year. Lanfranchi was also an owner of horses and greyhounds. He directed the 1968 Euro-western “Death Sentence” starring Tomas Milian.


  • CHILCOTT, Barbara (Barbara Chilcott Davis) - 9/10/1922, Newmarket, Ontario, Canada - 1/1/2022, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Canadian actress Barbara Chilcott died at her home in Toronto, Canada on New Year’s Day 2022. She was 99. A fixture of the Crest Theatre in Toronto and frequent player at the Stratford Festival in its early years, Chilcott moved between Canada and England during a prolific career on the stage, said William Scoular, a former colleague and acclaimed director. A fixture of the Crest Theatre in Toronto and frequent player at the Stratford Festival in its early years, Chilcott moved between Canada and England during a prolific career on the stage, said William Scoular, a former colleague and acclaimed director. She returned to Canada in 1950 and performed on CBC Radio before joining her brothers Murray Davis and Donald Davis in their summer theatre company, Straw Hat Players. Chilcott survived her husband Harry Somers, a renowned Canadian composer who passed away in 1999. She had no children. Chilcott appeared in one Euro-western, 1966’s ‘The Trap’ as trader’s wife. The British/Canadian co-production starred Oliver Reed and Rita Tushingham.


  • COLLIER, Marian (Marian Chulay) - 9/23/1931, East Chicago, Indians, U.S.A. - 9/3/2021, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.

American actress Marian Collier passed away at her Los Angeles, California home on September 3, 2021. She was 90. She was the last living member of the all-girl band in the Billy Wilder comedy "Some Like It Hot," a role for which she would receive attention her entire life. Marian was born Marian Chulay on September 23, 1931 in East Chicago, Indiana. She appeared in numerous TV series throughout her career including ‘Mr. Novak’, ‘Maverick’, ‘Laramie’, ‘Wanted: Dead or Alive’ and one 1971 Euro-western, “The Hunting Party” as the teacher opposite Candice Bergen and Oliver Reed.


  • SCARPA, Renato - 9/14/1939, Milan, Lombardy, Italy - 12/30/2021, Monteverde, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Italian supporting and character actor Renato Scarpa died at his Rome, Italy home on December 30, 2021. He was 82. Born in Rome on September 14, 1939, Scarpa began his career in the early 1970s and went on to appear in over 160 films. He appeared in two Euro-westerns “Buddy Goes West” (1981) as Logan and “The Sons of Trinity” (1995) as Pablo.


  • COMAS, Jaime (Jaime Comas Gil) - 1936 Terrassa, Barcelona, Spain - 12/21/2021, Madrid, Madrid, Spain

Spanish producer, screenwriter Jaime Comas died in Madrid, Spain on December 21, 2021. He was 85. Jaime Comas Gil was born in Terrassa, Barcelona, Spain in 1936. It was in 1964 when, hired by Ocean Films, he began writing and co-writing screenplays for international co-productions, most of them with Italy. Thus came the opportunity to embark on the script for "For a Fistful of Dollars," the first film in the Dollar Trilogy, followed by "For a Few Dollars More" and "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly”, the best-known title in his filmography and starring Clint Eastwood. The film which laid the groundwork for the “Spaghetti Western” as a film subgenre and brought fame to Clint Eastwood and director Sergio Leone, also focused on the Spanish screenwriter, who worked alongside other directors, A Bonzzoni and Victor Andres Catena in his writing. Comas founded Arcos Films in 1968, Alas Films in 1973, and New World Films International in 1998. He was a production manager, and screenwriter on “Fistful of Dollars” (1964) and associate producer on 1999’s “One Man’s Hero”.


  • LYS, Ágata (Margarita García Sansegundo) - 12/3/1953, Valladolid, Castilla y León, Spain - 11/12/2021, Marbella, Andalusia, Spain

Spanish actress and singer Agata Lys died in Marbella, Andalusia, Spain on November 12, 2021. She was 68. It was just reported on December 23. A prominent figure in the cinema of the 1970s and 1980s, she was one of the great faces and bodies of the period, although she knew how to leave that stage behind and, when she had the opportunity, she showed that she was also a good actress. The death of the singer, who has just been made public, it occurred although they have not disclosed the cause of his death. This has been confirmed by the Union of Actors and Actresses through its Twitter account. Margarita García Sansegundo, was born on December 3, 1953 in Valladolid, Castilla y Leon, Spain. She jumped from the small screen to the big screen after her appearance in the popular television program '1, 2, 3', by Chicho Ibáñez Serrador, in 1972. It was there that the platinum blonde image was forged in which her brain was much less important than the rest of the body, a circumstance that she knew how to use throughout her career, without ever denying the roles that made her famous. For in Spain of the time, it was like having their own Marilyn Monroe. Lys came to star in 'La nueva Marilyn', in 1976, under the direction of José Antonio de la Loma. Lys appeared in four Euro-westerns: “In the Name of the Father, the Son and the Colt” (1971) as Antonieta ‘Toni’ Pickford, “Tequila” (1972) as Senora Ingrid Dekovan/Di Koven/Cogan). “Three Supermen of the West” (1973) as Yolanda /Agata) and “Valley of the Dancing Widows” (1974) as Maria.


  • CONWAY, Richard (Richard Stanley Palmer Conway) - 1/15/1942, Essex, England, U.K. - 12/22/2021, U.S.A.

British born Special Effects Supervisor Richard Coway died on December 22, 2021. H e was 79. Born Richard Stanley Palmer Conway, on January 15, 1942 in Essex, England. Conway began working in television in the 1960s, where he began his career working alongside Gerry Anderson. He worked on shows such as “Thunderbirds,” “Captain Scarlet” and “Joe 90”. While there, Conway met fellow visual effects pioneer George Gibbs and together they would go on to work on the 1969 classic “The Battle of Britain.” From there, Conway segued into film work. He was a senior effects supervisor on Dino De Laurentiis’, “Flash Gordon.” It was Conway who created the unforgettable multi-colored skies around Mongo and its neighboring planets. Conway was SFX Supervisor on the 1996 Euro-western “North Star” starring James Caan and Christopher Lambert.


  • van der LINDEN, Henk - 5/3/1925, Hoensbroek, Limburg, Netherlands - 12/18/2021, Tuddern, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

Dutch filmmaker Henk van der Linden died on December 18, 2021 in Tudden, Germany. He was 96. Henk made around 80 children’s films mostly based on well-known youth literature. He had his entire family, wife and kids, involved in various roles before and behind the camera. His film “New Adventures of Dik Tom set a record mentioned in the Guinness Book of Records as it ran for 28 consecutive years. He was knighted in the Order of Netherlands Lion in 2020. Henk produced, directed, wrote, photographed, acted in, edited and composed the music for two Euro-westerns: Adventures in the West” (1963) and “Indian Attack in Death Pass” (1967).


  • FORTON, Gérald - 10/4/1931, Brussels, Belgium - 12/16/2021, Apple Valley, California, U.S.A.

Comic book and animator artist Gérald Forton died at his Apple Valley, California ranch on December 16th. He was 90 Born in Brussels, Belgium on April 10, 1931. Forton began his career in 1950 and was an artist on such western comic books as Teddy Ted from 1964-1975, Jonah Hex in 1980, and Zorro in 2011. Others include: some stories from Uncle Paul, Tiger Joe, Bob Morane, The Mysteries of the West, Kim Devil, Cyril Sinclair, Teddy Ted, Borsalino, He moved to the U.S. in 1980 and continued his career with DC Comics, Eclipse Comics and First Comics and began a career in Hollywood as a storyboarder for film, television and advertising. He worked as an artist on the 1992 TV animated Euro-western The Legend of White Fang.


  • WERTMULLER, Lina (Arcangela Felice Assunta Job Wertmüller von Elgg Espanol von Brauchich) - 8/14/1928, Rome, Lazio, Italy - 12/9/2021, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Lina Wertmüller, the masterful Italian filmmaker who created a sensation in the 1970s with her earthy mix of sex and politics seen in such classics as Seven Beauties, Swept Away and The Seduction of Mimi, died in Rome on December 9, 2021. She was 93. Wertmüller, was the first woman to receive an Oscar nomination for best director (for 1975’s Seven Beauties). In October 2019, she was given an honorary Oscar at the Governors Awards. Born in Rome as Arcangela Felice Assunta Job Wertmüller von Elgg Espanol von Brauchich on August 14, 1928. Recognizable by film aficionados for her white-framed glasses and pert hairstyle, Wertmüller first came to international attention at Cannes with The Seduction of Mimi, a comedy and was the first movie from her company, Liberty Films. Wertmuller directed one Euro-western “Belle Star” (!968) under the alias Nathan Wich and wrote the screenplay under the alias George Brown. Previously she was signed to direct another Euro-western “Learn to Kill” (1965), but the film was never made. Lina also acted as an uncredited choreographer for Rita Pavone in "Little Rita in the West" (1967)

Cookies help us deliver our services. By using our services, you agree to our use of cookies.